In handheld work apparatuses of the kind in question, the intake air filter of the combustion engine has an inclined filter axis. This means that the filter element around the filter axis also has an upper filter section in relation to the vertical direction, in addition to a lower section and lateral sections. The air filter is enclosed by a filter housing, which has at least one air intake window. This at least one air intake window is situated remotely from the aforementioned upper filter section, that is, in the region of the lower or lateral filter sections. The flow of intake air entering the interior of the filter housing as a result is now distributed around the periphery of the filter element, in order to achieve the most uniform possible air throughput through the filter material ideally at all points. The material of the filter element in this case retains impurities in the intake air of the most varied kinds, ranging from fine dust to coarse shavings. Finer particles are caught in or on the filter material in the process, whereas coarse impurities such as wood shavings or the like are intended to fall from the filter element, where possible, in order not to impair the air throughput.
Under actual operating conditions, however, it has been found that the aforementioned coarse particles of impurities are prone to accumulate on the upper filter section, where they then remain without falling off. This can lead to the space between the upper filter section and the housing section located above it being filled completely. The resulting blockage prevents a surround-flow around the filter element and a through-flow of the filter material distributed uniformly over the periphery, which reduces the filtration performance and increases the intake resistance. In order to prevent any such blockage, the filter housing and also the air filter, if necessary, must be removed. A suchlike time-consuming maintenance intervention also harbours the risk of the coarse impurities, which then fall suddenly, reaching the clean-air side of the filter and, in so doing, entering the intake passage of the combustion engine.